Conservation News

The upcoming Red Book list on endangered species features two noticeable absences — the Amur tiger and the gray whale.

Other changes in store for Russia’s Red Book, which is updated every 10 years, include the coordination of its data with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List and a more objective approach, Izvestia reported.

The Red Book is coordinated by the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, which acknowledged that the previous list included many animals that didn’t belong.

Work on the book won’t be completed until November, but among the animals that may leave the list is the black crane, the Amur tiger and the gray whale.

The decision is a result of both an increase in the species’ numbers and new standards for including animals that come as a result of merging the Russian and IUCN standards.

Valentin Ilyashenko, who is leading the project, said the number of Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, has remained stable for about 15 years and that the big cats are even beginning to expand their territory.

Gray whales, a group of which have a migration route near Russia’s Pacific coast, have made an even more dramatic recovery, with numbers increasing to an estimated 30,000 worldwide from a low of 2,000.

Ilyashenko cautioned, however, that removing species from the list may pose new dangers for the animals. In the case of the gray whale, the responsibility for its preservation would shift from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to the Federal Fisheries Agency, which he said may decide to allow the animals to be hunted.

The authors of the report, Extinction of the Javan Rhino from Vietnam, said genetic analysis of dung samples collected between 2009-2010 in the Cat Tien National Park showed that they all belonged to just one individual.

Shortly after the survey was completed, conservationists found out that the rhino had been killed. They say it was likely to have been the work of poachers because it had been shot in a leg and its horn had been cut off.

Globally, there has been a sharp increase in the number of rhino poaching cases. Earlier this year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a report that said rhino populations in Africa were facing their worst poaching crisis for decades.

An assessment carried out by Traffic, the global wildlife trade monitoring network, said the surge in the illegal trade in rhino horns was being driven by demands from Asian medicinal markets.

Conservation blow

The Vietnam rhino, as well as being the last of the species on mainland Asia, was also the last known surviving member of the Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus subspecies - one of three recognised groups of Javan rhino populations.

Another is already extinct. R. sondaicus inermis was formerly found in north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Burma.

The remaining subspecies, R. sondaicus sondaicus, is now found on Java, Indonesia. However, since the 1930s, the animals - now estimated to number no more than 50 - have been restricted to the westernmost parts of the island.

Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, chairman of the IUCN's Asian Rhino Specialist Group, said the demise of the Javan rhino in Vietnam was "definitely a blow".

"We all must learn from this and need to ensure that the fate of the Javan rhino in [Indonesia] won't be like that of Cat Tien in near future," he told BBC News.

"Threats to rhinos for their horn is definitely a major problem. But in Indonesia, due to active work done by rhino protection units and national park authorities, no Javan rhino poaching has been recorded in Indonesia for past decade."

Dr Talukdar observed: "What is key to the success of the species is appropriate habitat management as the Javan rhinos are browser and it needs secondary growing forests."

He warned that the habitat within the national park on Java serving as the final refuge for the species was being degraded by an invasive species of palm.

"As such, control of arenga palm and habitat management for Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park is now become important for future of the species."

In detail: Javan rhinocerosScientific name: Rhinoceros sondaicusThe species is listed as Critically Endangered because fewer than 50 individuals remainWeight: 900kg - 2,300kgHeight: 1.5m - 1.7mLength: 2.0m - 4.0mMale Javan rhinos possess a single horn about 25cm longIt is estimated that they can live for 30-40 yearsFemales reach sexual maturity between 5-7 years, and then give birth to a calf about once every three years(Source: IUCN/IRF)

The 609 Pig-nosed Turtles confiscated in Hong Kong in January this year have finally been returned to Maro River in Papua. All the turtles survived the long journey from Hongkong through Jakarta, then on to Merauke and eventually Bupul village in Papua.

The local people in Bupul were delighted to meet the team from International Animal Rescue Indonesia (IAR Indonesia) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who accompanied the turtles on their long journey. They held a special ceremony dedicated to the future wellbeing and survival of the turtles. Over-exploitation had driven the Pig-nosed Turtle to extinction in the river.

Mr Arnold, Head of Bupul village, said: "It's a real privilege to be able to see and touch these turtles again. They have been extinct in this area for more than 30 years. We really hope that future generations will enjoy seeing them inhabiting the river and will continue to cherish and protect them."

All the pupils from the local school in Bupul participated in the release. They were thrilled to be able to set the turtles free and swim with them in the river.

Karmele Llano Sanchez, Executive Director of IAR Indonesia, said: "The repatriation of the turtles has been a complete success. We send our thanks to the Hong Kong and Indonesian governments for their eagerness to cooperate which made it possible for us to save them. Our grateful thanks also go to Kadoori Farm and Botanical Gardens (KFBG) who have taken care of the turtles since January and paid the entire cost of their repatriation and release.

"People in developed countries who like to buy exotic pets such as turtles should think hard about the effect this trade has on wild populations that are in danger of becoming extinct. Millions of turtles are captured and transported to supply the growing exotic pet industry and vast numbers of them die before they even reach the pet shops. It is a tragic waste of wildlife."

There are only somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 black rhinos alive today, and 16 have been killed by poachers this year alone.

But there's some good news for the 400 odd black rhinos in Zimbabwe. Canadian group Bundu Designs has teamed up with Save the Rhino International and Zimbabwean wire artists in order to make and sell unique beaded rhino sculptures. The money raised will go towards saving this endangered animal.

Appropriately, Bundu Designs and Support the Rhino launched the sale of the sculptures on World Rhino Day, September 8. Their goal is to sell 431 -- one for every black rhino still alive in Zimbabwe. The rhinos run for $75, $10 of which will fight poaching and help the species thrive.

In a novel marriage of conservation and modern biology, scientists have created stem cells from two endangered species, which could help ensure their survival.

The northern white rhino is one of the most endangered animals on Earth, while the drill - a west African monkey - is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

The scientists report in Nature Methods that their stem cells could be made to turn into different types of body cell.

If they could turn into eggs and sperm, "test-tube babies" could be created.

Such applications are a long way off, but research team chief Jeanne Loring said she had been encouraged by the results on the rhino cells, which they had not really expected to be successful.

The stem cells were made from skin by a process of "re-programming", where retroviruses and other tools of modern cell biology are used to bring the cells back to an earlier stage of their development.

At this stage they are said to be "pluripotent", meaning they can be induced to form different kinds of specialised cell such as neurons and cartilage.

This kind of science entails a fair amount of trial and error, and the researchers expected it would work with the drill because there is lots of experience with primates - but the rhino was a different matter.

"It wasn't easy - we had to do a lot of fiddling to make it work, but it did work," Dr Loring told BBC News.

Along the test-tube

The initial application for this kind of technology might be medicinal.

If animals are suffering from degenerative diseases such as diabetes, stem cells could in principle be turned into replacements for cells that are ceasing to function.

Studies using this approach are underway in humans for health issues as different as heart failure, blindness, stroke and spinal injuries, though routine use is another matter.

But a more exciting idea is to create embryos by inducing the stem cells to make gametes - eggs and sperm.

"Making gametes from stem cells is not routine yet, but there are some reports of it being done with laboratory animals," said Dr Loring.

Last month, a Japanese team reported turning mouse stem cells into sperm, which were then used to father mouse embryos.

Other research teams are looking to cloning to rescue seriously endangered species. But this team believes the creation of new embryos would be a better bet.

"Cloning has not worked well for endangered species - the frequency of success is very low," said Dr Loring.

"And here, you have the possibility to make new genetic combinations rather than cloning which simply reproduces existing animals."

Embryos created this way could potentially be raised in surrogate mothers from closely related species.

'Last-ditch effort'

Robert Lacy, a conservation scientist at the Chicago Zoological Society and chairman of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group attached to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said the technique might one day help to bring endangered species back from the brink, although lots more work remained to be done.

"The prospects for using these techniques for continuing the genetic lineages of the last few individuals of a species will be a last-ditch effort, after we have failed to protect the species in earlier, simpler, cheaper, and more effective ways," he said.

"Only when numbers get so low that the genetic contribution of every last animal (including those represented only in frozen cell lines) contributes measurably to the total species diversity - maybe around 10 individuals - would we want to do everything possible to ensure that those genes are transmitted to future generations.

"Tragically, northern white rhinos have undergone just such a decimation."

The white rhinoceros is surviving well in southern Africa despite an increasing threat of poaching.

But with the northern sub-species (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), it is a very different story.

Three years ago, the wild population was down to just four individuals living in a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

However, more recent expeditions have failed to locate even this tiny stock; and it is likely that the seven living in captivity are the only representatives left on the planet.

The drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) - a less colourful cousin of the more familiar mandrill - is not in quite such a parlous state, but numbers in its native habitat in Cameroon and Nigeria are declining, mainly due to hunting, and the species carries an Endangered rating.

The stem cell research brings together conservation scientists with those involved in cutting-edge laboratory work, including Jeanne Loring who, as a world-renowned stem cell researcher, heads the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Their immediate aim is to replicate their rhino work with 10 other endangered animals. She would not be drawn on what they all are, but an elephant is among them.

The 2011 numbers are considered record-breaking compared to the past 5 years where only 7 to 9 leopards were identified each year.

The positive results point to a population increase of up to 50% in the targeted region and can be attributed to:

long term efforts made to support leopard conservation, including this annual survey conducted by WWF and partners

improvements made to the management of the Kedrovaya Pad Reserve and Leopardovy Federal Wildlife Refuge, both primary habitat for Amur leopards

BackgroundMost leopards are rarely found in cold or high-elevation environments, but instead live in the savannas of Africa where populations are relatively stable.

However, the Amur leopard, a rare leopard subspecies, lives in the temperate forests and harsh winters of the Russian Far East. They are threatened by:

unsustainable logging

forest fires

land conversion for farming

poaching for the illegal trade of their unique spotted coats

To protect the Amur leopard WWF works to:

Support anti-poaching activities in wildlife refuges and all Amur leopard habitat in the Russian Far East

Implement programs to stop the illegal trade in Amur leopard parts

Increase the population of hooved species leopards hunt as prey (roe deer, sika deer and small wild boar)

Physical descriptionThe Amur leopard has a summer pelt of 1 inch thick fur that is replaced in the winter by 3 inch thick fur to provide warmth. Its coat is covered with widely spaced circles with thick borders and its long legs, used to walk in the snow, distinguish it from other leopard species.

Adult males weigh between 70 and 105 pounds and adult females weigh between 55 and 95 pounds. Amur leopards have been reported using their long legs to leap more than 19 feet horizontally and more than 9 feet vertically.

The conservation charity, WWF, has recorded images of 12 rare Sumatran tigers, including a mother playing with cubs, in an Indonesian forest.

The area is reportedly due to be cleared by loggers - a process which the WWF says must be stopped.

WWF captured the images with concealed cameras in the Bukit Tigapuluh forest and is trying to determine the reasons for the rich showing of tigers.

There are around 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

The video was recorded in March and April.

"What's unclear is whether we found so many tigers because we're getting better at locating our cameras or because the tiger's habitat is shrinking so rapidly here that they are being forced into sharing smaller and smaller bits of forests," said Karmila Parakkasi, leader of WWF's tiger research team in Sumatra.

"That was the highest number of tigers and tiger images obtained... we've ever experienced," the researcher added.

Campaign fodder

The area in which the tigers were found includes natural forest inside a land concession belonging to Barito Pacific Timber, the WWF said.

WWF is one of several environmental groups campaigning actively to curtail what they see as rampant incursions into rapidly diminishing forests.

"This video confirms the extreme importance of these forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem and its wildlife corridor," the WWF's forest and species programme director Anwar Purwoto said.

"WWF calls for all concessions operating in this area to abandon plans to clear this forest and protect areas with high conservation value," he added.

"We also urge the local, provincial and central government to take into consideration the importance of this corridor and manage it as part of Indonesia's commitments to protecting biodiversity," he said.

Barito Pacific could not be reached for comment.

Indonesia has agreed to implement a two-year moratorium on new forest clearance, but the deal has not yet been signed into law.

Throughout the years DNA evidence has ensured that many rapists and murderers end up where they belong - behind bars. Today DNA analysis has become a potent weapon in the fight against rhino poaching as it will help to ensure that rhino killers are stopped in their tracks.

When considering that 333 rhinos were poached during 2010, it's clear that South Africa is losing rhinos at an alarming rate. Nature lovers and conservationists hoped that 2011 would be a better year, but Sanparks’ announcement on 31 January 2011 that 21 rhinos had already been poached in South Africa during the first month of 2011 made one realise that drastic steps were needed to stop these murders. Along with this sad news came some good news: In the same period, 31 people were arrested in connection with poaching throughout the country - 16 in the North West, ten in the Kruger National Park (KNP), three in Gauteng and two in Limpopo. In addition, five suspected rhino poachers were also killed during skirmishes with park rangers in the KNP, while two others were wounded and hospitalised.

The slaughtering of these beasts is an organised crime with highly organised networks. Poachers are recruited to hunt the rhino and remove the horn, which is then handed to a carrier, or “mule” who hands it to the receiver. The receiver exports it to the distributor, who then sells it to a new pyramid of dealers and other distributors. When the poachers and carriers are arrested and weapons and rhino horns recovered it is not easy to link all the parts to a specific crime scene. Fortunately, this has now changed as forensic DNA methods that are typically used to catch offenders involved in other crimes are now being utilised to save our rhinos.

To learn more about rhino DNA, SERVAMUS visited Dr Cindy Harper from the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria at Onderstepoort. Dr Harper told us that the idea of DNA profiling of rhino horn originated in 2007 when a wildlife DNA forensics conference was held at Onderstepoort with invited experts in forensic wildlife DNA testing from the United Kingdom, the Trace Wildlife Network. Since rhinos are such a vulnerable species it was decided to start a research project on rhino DNA and particularly DNA from rhino horn.

Dr Harper said that they were surprised to find that nuclear DNA markers worked in DNA extracted from rhino horn and this contradicted the previously held belief that only mitochondrial DNA would work. The extraction method was refined and the result was that the DNA profile that is found in a horn sample, can match DNA found on any other part of the rhino’s carcass. This means that when a rhino horn is found in the possession of a poacher/ smuggler, DNA analysis can link it to a carcass found in the veld. A small piece of rhino horn is needed to do a DNA analysis. The shavings obtained when drilling a hole to insert a microchip in the horn, are enough for the process of obtaining a DNA profile.

VGL and the Trace Wildlife Network were involved with the development and validation of the rhino DNA profiling system, while South African National Parks (Sanparks) provided the research samples.

Advantages of the rhino DNA projectDNA has a number of advantages, including the following:* Unlike microchipping, DNA can never be removed from a horn. * With a DNA database in place, DNA found in a horn can link suspects to a specific poaching scene. * DNA can determine the gender of the rhino.* DNA can also indicate the species (white/black rhino).

The effective population of the critically endangered Amur tiger is now fewer than 14 animals, say scientists.

Approximately 500 Amur tigers actually survive in the wild, but the effective population is a measure of the genetic diversity of the world's largest cat.

Very low diversity means any vulnerability to disease or rare genetic disorders is likely to be passed on to the next generation.

So these results paint a grim picture for the tiger's chance of survival.

The findings are reported in the journal Mammalian Biology.

The Amur tiger, or Siberian tiger as it is also known, once lived across a large portion of northern China, the Korean peninsula, and the southernmost regions of eastern Russia.

During the early 20th Century, the Amur tiger was almost driven to extinction, as expanding human settlements, habitat loss and poaching wiped out this biggest of cats from over 90% of its range.

By the 1940s, just 20 to 30 individuals survived in the wild. The new study has identified that this recent "genetic bottleneck" - when the breeding population of tigers was so critically low - has decimated the Amur tiger gene pool.

A more genetically diverse population of animals has a much better chance of survival; it is more likely, for example, to contain the genetic resistance to a variety of diseases and less likely to succumb to rare genetic disorders, which can be "cancelled out" by healthy genes.

'Worryingly low'

Scientists in Russia, Spain and Germany worked together to analyse DNA samples from 15 wild Amur tigers in the Russian Far East.

They took blood samples from the animals and screened them for certain "markers" - points in the DNA code that show that an animal had parents that were genetically very different from each other.

The results revealed evidence of the genetic bottleneck during the tigers' recent history, when the variety of genes being passed on dramatically reduced.

Genetically speaking, the Amur tiger has not recovered from this.

"Our results are the first to demonstrate a quite recent genetic bottleneck in Siberian tigers, a result that matches the well-documented severe demographic decline of the Siberian tiger population in the 1940s," the researchers wrote in the paper.

"The worryingly low effective population size challenges the optimism for the recovery of the huge Siberian cat."

Turtles and tortoises are now the most endangered group of vertebrate animals, with more than half of their 328 species threatened with extinction, according to a new report.

Their populations are being depleted by unsustainable hunting, both for food and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, by large-scale collection for the pet trade, and by the widespread pollution and destruction of their habitats, according to the study Turtles In Trouble, produced by a coalition of turtle conservation groups.

The result is that their plight has never been greater, and the world's 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles will become extinct in a few decades without concerted conservation efforts, the report says.

Asia is the worst affected region; of the 25 most endangered turtles, more than two thirds (17) are from Asia, a result of decades of massive exploitation. "For example, in just one market in Dhaka, Bangladesh, close to 100,000 wild caught turtles are butchered for consumption during a one-day religious holiday each year," the report adds.

It goes on: "Furthering the problem is a lucrative international black market trade in pet turtles and tortoises that has escalated prices of some of the more rare species into the tens of thousands of dollars. Rumours even exist that some of the rarest Asian species are now commanding prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

The world's 328 species are divided into 263 fresh water and terrestrial turtles, and 58 species of tortoises (plus seven sea turtles which are not covered in detail by the report). With up to 54 per cent of the total considered threatened, turtles and tortoises are at a much higher risk of extinction, the report says, than other vertebrates such as birds, mammals, sharks and rays or even amphibians – which are usually considered the most endangered grouping.

"Turtles are disappearing fast and we are dealing with one of the most significant wildlife crises of our lifetime," says Rick Hudson, President of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA). Several species are down to just a handful of remaining individuals.

No. 1 on the list is the Pinta Island tortoise, one of the Galapagos tortoises species that contributed to Charles Darwin's theories on "natural selection". Sadly, only a single male of this species, "Lonesome George", remains alive today, and the report comments: "Ironically, Darwin and other travellers often ate many of the islands' tortoises and released rats, goats and other animals, which significantly contributed to their decline."

Close behind is the Red River giant softshell turtle of China and Vietnam, weighing more than 250lbs with a shell more than three feet long. With only four animals left, the stakes have never been higher. Some species are in danger of disappearing before scientists even find out where they live. Zhou's box turtle (the 6th most endangered) has occasionally appeared in the turtle markets of China, but to date no one has located a wild population.

There may only be 40 left in the world, but intimate footage of Javan rhino mothers and calves have been captured by video-camera trap in Ujung Kulon National Park, the last stand of one of the world's most threatened mammals. Captured by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Indonesia's Park Authority, the videos prove the Javan rhinos are, in fact, breeding.

"The videos are great news for Javan rhinos," said Dr. Eric Dinerstein chief scientist at WWF, adding that "there are no Javan rhinos in captivity—if we lose the population in the wild, we’ve lost them all."

Given the situation, a single disease or natural disaster—such as a volcano explosion according to Dinerstein—could push the species to extinction. To insure the species has a chance to survive, WWF is working on implementing a program to translocate a few of the rhinos in order to establish a second population.

The two videos filmed in November and December 2010 show two different rhino mothers, one with a young male calf and that another with a year-old female calf.

"It’s such a joy to see these healthy calves calmly ambling through the dense tropical forest," Barry Long with WWF said. "It gives me hope for the future of the species and it’s moments like these that make all of the hard work of Indonesia’s dedicated field staff worthwhile."

Although dubbed the Javan rhino, the species was once widespread through Southeast Asia. But demand for powdered rhino horn for traditional Chinese medicine decimated the species, along with the world's other four rhino species, although there is no evidence that rhino horn has any curative properties. In addition habitat loss has pushed surviving rhino populations into smaller and smaller pockets. Not long ago, there was a small population of Javan rhinos still surviving in Vietnam, however many conservationists believe this population—if any rhinos still exist—is no longer viable. One of the last Vietnamese individuals was found last year killed by poachers with its horn sawed off.

Three of the world's five rhino species, including the Javan, are listed as Critically Endangered.

For twenty years, one poacher and his gang in Tanzania have been systematically poaching many of the Amboseli region's elephants. The authorities have never been able to catch him. But thanks to Big Life Foundation & the Kenya Wildlife Service, his poaching days are now over.

Based on a tip-off from one of Big Life's informers, Kenya Wildlife Service successfully intercepted the poacher gang responsible for the killing of Magna (an old bull whose broken tusks were so small, it showed that no elephant was now safe from the poachers' bullets and poison) and many other elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem / Tanzania over the last twenty years.

A firefight ensued, during which two of the poachers were killed, but the leader of the poaching gang escaped with wounds over the border back into Tanzania.

The Kenyan authorities were not able to communicate as quickly as necessary with the authorities in Tanzania. At this point, BIG LIFE's strategy - of coordinated teamwork between our teams in Kenya and Tanzania - came into play. The Big Life team in Tanzania WERE able to respond, and immediately.

Within three months of being established, BIG LIFE has succeeded in breaking up the worst of the three main gangs operating along the Amboseli region Kenya/Tanzania border. Please donate generously to help continue Big Life's success at: http://www.biglifeafrica.org/donate

Ranthambore, which lost 10 tigers recently due to deaths or straying, may have got back its count with at least nine cubs being sighted in the park.

Since last September, five cubs have been caught on camera while forest guards spotted two more tigress which are said to be lactating, park sources said.

A trap camera caught three cubs recently. Though the news of the birth of the cubs came sometime back, forest officials could not confirm it as pictures were not available. "Now since we have pictures of the cubs we are sure," said R N Mehrotra, Rajasthan's principal chief conservator of forests.

Governments of the 13 countries where tigers still live aim to agree moves that could double numbers of the endangered big cats within 12 years.

The International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg will discuss proposals on protecting habitat, tackling poaching, and finance.

About 3,000 tigers live in the wild - a 40% decline in a decade.

There are warnings that without major advances, some populations will disappear within the next 20 years.

Five prime ministers are due to attend the summit, including China's Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

"Here's a species that's literally on the brink of extinction," said Jim Leape, director general of conservation group WWF.

"This is the first time that world leaders have come together to focus on saving a single species, and this is a unique opportunity to mobilise the political will that's required in saving the tiger."

Double trouble

The draft declaration that leaders will consider acknowledges that "Asia's most iconic animal faces imminent extinction in the wild".

Measures aimed at doubling numbers include making core tiger areas "inviolate", cracking down on poaching and smuggling, making people aware of the importance of tigers, and setting up cross-boundary protected areas where necessary.

A recent report by Traffic, the global wildlife trade monitoring organisation, said that body parts from more than 1,000 tigers had been seized in the last decade.

But there is acknowledgement that some of the smaller nations will need help, in the form of money and expertise.

Earlier this year, scientists calculated the price of effective global tiger conservation at $80m (£50m) per year, but said only $50m was currently on the table.

However, campaigners say financial concerns should not be an excuse for inaction.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) points out that by comparison, it is estimated that "China spent $31bn on the Olympic Games in 2008, while India spent a total of $2.6bn on the 2010 Commonwealth Games".

"This is the big question," said EIA's campaigner Alasdair Cameron.

"The draft deal has a lot of positive stuff in it, but a lot of the stuff has been around for years - what we need is the political will to make it happen."

He identified two elements missing in the draft deal: measures to reduce the demand for tiger skins and bones and body parts for traditional medicine, and any discussion of tiger farms.

Both are sensitive topics in China, where it is estimated there are more tigers in captivity than exist globally in the wild.

The World Bank has given substantial backing to moves aimed at saving the tiger, and its president Robert Zoellick also referred to the need to reduce demand, especially in China and Vietnam.

"There's no question everyone recognises this as a core issue - the challenge is how we get at it," he said.

Film star Jackie Chan recently voiced some public service announcements in China asking people not to use tiger parts, which Mr Zoellick said was playing a part in "chaning public attitudes".

Small is ugly

From a scientific perspective, one of the most worrying aspects of the tiger's plight is that many populations are very small - fewer than 100 animals.

This means that incidents such as disease can prove particularly severe.

Of the nine sub-species recognised to have been in existence 100 years ago, at least three have since disappeared.

The Bali tiger was last seen in the 1930s, while the Javan and Caspian sub-species were wiped out in the 1970s. All are officially listed as extinct.

The South China tiger may also have disappeared from the wild, with no sightings for nearly 40 years.

Jean-Christoph Vie, deputy head of the species programme with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), suggested the tiger could be seen as a test-case for whether countries are really serious about saving biological diversity.

"Some people are saying 'well, doubling the tiger population is good, but we have no room' - I've heard that said [in preliminary meetings]," he told the BBC.

"It needs to be done everywhere - especially we need to see a doubling where you have significant populations.

""If you leave tigers alone and don't kill them and don't poach them, then naturally they will double in 10 years."

Right now, there are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild and that number is falling. Tiger habitat is being lost at an alarming rate and poaching has surged over recent months.

Thankfully, there’s still hope. Given protection, space to roam and sufficient prey, tiger numbers can increase rapidly. They can claw their way back from the brink. But, we need your help.

This November, Prime Minister Putin of Russia is hosting the first ever Heads of Government Tiger Summit and we want to show the leaders of the 13 countries where tigers still roam that there is huge public support for urgent political action. This could be a turning-point in tiger conservation.

Months after rescuers found them struggling and covered in oil, 33 endangered and threatened young sea turtles are finally going home to the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Audubon Nature Institute freed the turtles Thursday in waters about 40 miles southwest of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

This marked the latest mass release of turtles since about 500 were rescued in the weeks and months after the massive months-long oil spill.

"We were able to release these turtles because they're now healthy, and we're seeing recovery in the surface habitats of the Gulf of Mexico," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a news release.

The spill began after an April 20 explosion on the offshore drilling platform Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 men. Two days later, the platform sank and oil started gushing into the Gulf. In early August, owner BP used cement and mud to plug the damaged Gulf of Mexico well.

Officials formally declared an end to the oil spill disaster on September 19, though considerable efforts remained to clean up area waters and revive wildlife affected by the spill.

Earlier this month, NOAA reopened federal waters off the Louisiana coast to fishing. Thursday's release marked another milestone in the area's recovery, according to those involved.

"Returning this group of sea turtles to their home waters is ... a sign that Louisiana is on the path towards recovery," said Randy Pausina, an assistant secretary for Louisiana's office of fisheries.

The 33 turtles had been rescued more than three months ago by federal officials and state wildlife authorities from Louisiana, Florida and Georgia, as well as the Riverhead Foundation and the In-Water Research Group. They were rehabilitated at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans.

They included green, Kemp's ridley and hawksbill sea turtles, which are classified as endangered species. There also were loggerheads, which are a threatened species.

With 270 turtles having been cleaned, nursed back to health and released, there are more than 200 still in rehabilitation sites around the area.

Scientists did extensive aerial and shipboard tests earlier this week on the waters near the release point, making sure the sargassum algae was clean. Young turtles thrive in such areas, which provide protection from predators and ample food, including small crabs, snails and other creatures.

"Six months ago, it was nearly impossible to imagine this day would ever come," said Ron Forman, the Audubon Nature Institute's CEO and president.

Five rhinos in South Africa's North West province have been fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to help protect them from poachers.

The GPS chip is fitted into the rhino's horn by drilling a small hole in the inert or dead part of the horn.

As well as GPS tracking, the device is equipped with alarm systems to alert game wardens of unusual movement or if a rhino is outside of the park.

The North West Park Board is testing the devices in Mafikeng Game Reserve.

The board began this novel project in April of this year, when they tested the chips.

Park vets carried out the first implants the system is now "up and running" - constantly monitoring the five animals.

"It's basically a satellite system which connects with the cell phone system and we can monitor the animals on whatever time delay we want," Rusty Hustler, head of security for North West Parks Board, told BBC News.

"There are a number of alarms that can be programmed: one for excessive movement, so if the rhino starts running, and another that goes off if the rhino sleeps for longer than six hours, which is abnormal."

An alarm also sounds if the chip goes outside of the area of the game reserve.

A reaction team in the park would be able to track and quickly reach the animal if an alarm went off.

More than 200 rhinos had been slaughtered in South Africa since the start of the year and there is a high demand for rhino horn, a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

Mr Hustler said that the board was looking to use the devices in animals in other North West province parks and were planning to tag more animals in the coming weeks.

He added that in the future, the devices could even help to track rhino horns that were taken by poachers to help combat the illegal trade.

Tusk’s Royal Patron, Prince William and Ben Fogle in Africa, exclusively for Sky 1 HD on Wednesday 20 October 2010 at 8pm (GMT)

This October, presenter, writer and adventurer Ben Fogle follows Prince William on his first official visit to Africa. Produced by Spun Gold Television, this 60 minute film observes the Prince both in private and in public, with unprecedented access as he embarks on an official visit to Botswana on behalf of his charity Tusk Trust. PRINCE WILLIAM’S AFRICA will be broadcast exclusively on Sky 1 HD and Sky 1 on Wednesday 20 October at 8pm (GMT).

Cameras joined Prince William in Botswana as he marked the 20th anniversary of the Tusk Trust, the African wildlife conservation charity, of which he is Royal Patron. The film reveals his passion for conservation in Africa and why he feels it is so important to get Britain’s youth engaged. In addition to following Prince William on his official duties, the cameras joined him as he escaped into the African wilderness for a research safari.

In the film the Prince and Ben Fogle talk candidly about balancing the Prince’s public commitments and private life, as well as his work in the RAF. The Prince discusses having a passion for Africa, since spending his gap year there ten years ago, and how this drove him to offer his patronage to the Tusk Trust.

Also visiting the Tusk Trust are a group of London teenagers from Centrepoint, another venture which Prince William supports since visiting the charity as a child with his mother. The Prince meets these teenagers and finds out about the work they are doing for Tusk.

This 60 minute documentary is produced by Spun Gold Television and is executive produced by Celia Taylor for Sky1 HD and Nick Bullen for Spun Gold Television. Olivia Lichtenstein has produced and directed.

More than five million school-age children in 15 countries will take part in the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) program to promote tiger conservation.

The Youth Voices for Tigers program will be held as part of IFAW's Animal Action Week, which runs form October 4-10. This year the Animal Action Week focuses on tigers, which the organization describes as "one of the world's most iconic and endangered species."

The event coincides with the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac and the UN International Year of Biodiversity.

The world's wild tiger population has plunged from 100,000 to 3,000, primarily due to poaching and habitat loss over the past century, according to IFAW.

Founded in 1969, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, the organization rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals, and advocates the protection of wildlife and habitats.

SA has lost 210 rhino to poaching since January against 122 for all of last year.

All rhino poaching will be classified as organised crime, the head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) organised crime unit, Johan Kruger, said yesterday.

This will make it harder for those arrested in connection with rhino poaching to get bail and those convicted will face longer sentences.

SA has lost 210 rhino to poaching since January — against 122 for all of last year — as black-market demand for rhino horns rises along with the increase in economic status in East and Southeast Asia, where the horn is believed to have medicinal properties.

Mr Kruger, an advocate, was speaking at the launch of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs’ National Strategy for the Safety and Security of Rhinoceros Populations. Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said the strategy will ensure the successful arrest, conviction and sentencing of poachers, illegal traders and crime syndicates operating locally, regionally and nationally.

Twenty-one people have been arrested in connection with rhino poaching in SA in the past three weeks. Eleven, including two veterinarians, a pilot and a game farmer, all allegedly part of a poaching syndicate, were arrested in Limpopo last month. The group is alleged to be part of a ring behind rhino poaching across the province in recent months.

Ms Sonjica said SA is “ engaging” with countries such as China. “We are well aware that most of these syndicates come from the East. It is also very important to work with our (regional) partners on a regular basis. We will be consulting with the Department of International Relations,” she said.

Ms Sonjica said her department will also work closely with the police and NPA to bring perpetrators to book.

Mr Kruger said it is important to have the NPA on board. “You can have all the legislation in place but if you do not have the prosecutors then it becomes difficult.” He said most illegal rhino killings are committed by organised syndicates .

Ms Sonjica said she has been disappointed by the recent spate of poaching. “I am sad because the country’s track record on conservation is being undermined,” she said.

“We have been recognised internationally for our rhino conservation, we have been conserving rhinos more than any other country.” At the end of 2007, SA was responsible for conserving 35% of Africa’s black rhino in the wild and 93% of the continent’s white rhino.

The strategy, which is in line with the national white rhino strategy, provides guiding principles to be used in when making plans aimed at reducing rhino poaching.

Close to the bushveld town of Mookgophong,a vet sighted his gun on the lone black rhino standing bleeding in a boma.

Loaded in the dart gun was a powerful tranquilliser – the same kind used to sedate and kill countless rhinos so that poachers can remove their horns.

But this time the vet was on a mercy mission; in his sights was Noena, the miracle rhino.

Noena has been shot nine times – the same number as famed rap artist 50 Cent. But she is one up on 50 Cent: those bullets are still deep inside her.

On Wednesday, Noena, still bleeding from bullet wounds received five days earlier, was moved to a place of safety.

Noena is one of a few rhinos to have survived, a poaching attack – not once, but twice.

The first attack was about two months ago, when poachers tracked her and her mate down on a game farm.

Using either R-4 or R-5 rifles, poachers opened fire, killing the one rhino. Noena was hit twice, in the foot and the shoulder.

To help her recover, the farmer moved Noena into a boma. And to ensure her future survival, the farmer had Noena’s horn removed.

But it wasn’t enough. Last Friday, at around 1am, poachers crept up to the boma and opened fire, again with R4-s or R5-s. The poachers aimed for her head, hitting her in the lip, the face, and a bullet even lodged at the base of her ear.

She was struck seven times.

As to why the poachers went after a hornless rhino, Selomie Maritz believes they thought there was still a piece of horn buried under the skin that hadn’t been removed.

It was Maritz, a member of Eblockwatch’s anti-rhino poaching initiative, who, upon hearing of Noena’s plight, began the search for a safe home for her.

“When I saw her, she had tears running down her face. If someone dies you give your condolences, but what can you do for a rhino?” said Maritz.

Farmers are now reluctant to give homes to rhinos, as few can provide the security against increasingly sophisticated poachers.

Maritz persevered and eventually found a farmer.

But moving Noena had its own worries and difficulties. Her wounds were infected, and no one knew if she could take it. “When she was given the tranquilliser, I didn’t know if she would wake up again,” said Maritz. She did.

Still groggy from the dart, they moved her onto the game truck and, working as covertly as possible, they took Noena to her new home.

While she was sedated, a vet tried to remove the bullet from the base of her ear, but he was unsuccessful.

They suspect it has made her deaf in that ear.

But Maritz need not have worried about the rhino’s wellbeing. Minutes after arriving, an angry Noena was snorting and mock-charging her saviours. Typical black rhino behaviour.

A course of strong antibiotics will be administered, and if her luck continues to hold, maybe her deafness will be only temporary.

In her new enclosure she will have a couple of white rhinos for company.

But Noena may have a higher calling. Maritz wants her to become the poster rhino for the country’s anti-poaching campaign. “Everyone has seen the ugly pictures. This is about our heritage and about live rhinos.”

To raise awareness of the plight of the endangered Egyptian vulture, WWF-Spain launched today a new project called El Viaje del Alimoche (The Journey of the Egyptian Vulture), which allows users to track the migratory journey of four of the rare birds through a real-time online platform.

The platform is available in Spanish at http://www.elviajedelalimoche.com, and allows the public to follow the birds in real time, upload and download videos and photos, and even comment in social media -- all as the vultures make their from Spain to the southern Sahara.

The four vultures –named Duna, Vega, Sahel and Trigo – have been marked with satellite transmitters, so WWF can now track their position as they travel in the air.

WWF decided to engage the public about the plight of the vultures after a bird being tracked during a trial stage of the satellite system was killed last year.

WWF discovered that several endangered birds, including a vulture wearing one of the satellite transmitters, had been deliberately poisoned when one of the devices showed no movement for several days. The vulture’s name was Atlas, and he was found dead among 13 other birds of prey.

The discovery allowed police to find and prosecute the person who had poisoned the birds. They were later charged with illegal use of poison and slaughter of endangered species.

To allow the public to monitor the tracking, WWF has launched the El Viaje del Alimoche website, where anyone can follow, in real time, the migratory journey of all four birds using an amazing 3D map and a broad range of video, audio and photo material.

To participate even more in the adventure, website visitors can upload their videos and photos and leave their comments and questions via Facebook, Twitter or the blog space provided.

The Egyptian Vulture is one of the most endangered birds of prey. The online tracking is only one of many other initiatives aimed at protect the species and eliminate threats, mainly power lines, wind farms , lack of prey and, the main one, poison.

In the last decade more than 1,000 Egyptian vultures have died in Spain.

With the support of Fundación Biodiversidad, WWF hopes to bring closer all different sectors of society who are directly and indirectly related to the survival of the species: hunters, farmers, scientific experts, institutions, teachers, media and general public.

A Malaysian law intended to deal with animal traffickers and poachers may be too late to save some of the country's endangered species, wildlife activists say.

After years of wildlife being decimated by human activities, Malaysia finally responded with a wildlife conservation law called "overdue," Inter Press Service reported Tuesday.

Conservationists, concerned that Sumatran rhinos, orangutans, Malayan tigers and clouded leopards a losing their fight for survival, will be watching how the new law is implemented.

"The tough new measures are probably four decades overdue," conservationist Mohamed Iris said. "Official neglect and corruption is fueling the international trade in threatened species and the tough new law and action against corrupt officials may be too late for some endangered species."

The bill, with significantly higher penalties and mandatory jail terms for a wide range of wildlife crimes, is expected to come into force as law in December.

"It all depends how seriously and effectively the government implement the new law," said one conservationist working to preserve wildlife habitat at a forest reserve in East Malaysia.

"If effectively enforced, the law can give wildlife a respite against open and blatant poaching."

Some feel the agencies selected to enforce the new bill are not up to the job.

"They are not modern, don't have modern equipment, they don't use modern technology and their budget is minuscule compared to the challenges they face in protecting wildlife against poaches," lawmaker Grosgrain Mirages said. "The law is fine but the implementation part is wanting."

"We have the law," he said, "but without the budget the battle is lost."

The Saola - Pseudoryx nghetinhensis - is believed to inhabit the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam, and that is where villagers from Laos' central province of Bolikhamxay caught the unfortunate adult male earlier this August.

They brought the mammal back to the village.

Surprised by the odd-looking animal, the villagers took a few photos and notified the Lao authorities. But by the time a team from the Bolikhamxay Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office reached the remote location, the Saola was dead.

The Saola is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species.